China plane crash: 42 bodies, black box recovered from debris

Fifty-four passengers, including a senior Chinese minister, made a dramatic escape from the ill-fated airliner which broke into two as it came into land in the northeast city of Yichun in remote Heilongjiang province.

Most of the survivors managed to escape through broken holes of plane soon after the crash before the aircraft caught fire and exploded killing 42 people.

The dazed passengers, including vice minister of human  resources and social security Sun Baoshu, were taken to various hospitals in the city for treatment.

The bodies of 42 passengers killed in the crash were recovered today along with the black box containing the flight recorder from the debris of the Brazilian-made Embraer E-190 jet, said the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC).

The Henan Airlines domestic flight, flying from Harbin, was carrying 96 people including five crew when it overshot the runway and crashed while landing. Thick fog and poor night landing facilities were blamed for the crash.

"He (the minister) suffers broken bones and injuries in the brain and lungs," Li Jinchang, who operated on Sun overnight told official news agency Xinhua.

He said the operation lasted four hours.

The airport in a remote location was one of the numerous airports China has built in the recent years as part of modernisation drive to improve infrastructure.

Some of the survivors of the crash told state TV that the plane experienced violent jerks while landing. The jerks were so severe that the luggage from the overhead compartments started falling down.

"Someone dragged me to the emergency exit door and threw me out before I realised what was going on," said eight-year-old Ji Yifan, who escaped with minor injuries.

A man, who was slightly injured in the head, remembered strong turbulence after the crew announced it was about to land.

"There were four or five bad turbulence and luggage in the overhead bin were raining down," he said. 

"Everyone panicked. Those sitting in the back began rushing to the front of the cabin." 

"There was smog, which I knew was toxic. I held my breath and ran on until I saw a burning hole on one side of the cabin. I crawled out and ran at least 100 meters to ensure I was safe," he said.

Vice-minister of civil aviation Li Jian said it would take a while to publish the result of the investigation.

"It's hard to make any assumption right now, but we will publish, step by step, what we can rule out."

Of the five-member crew, two have survived including the captain and an attendant.

Henan Airlines operates smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in north and northeast China. Previously known as Kunpeng Airlines, the carrier was relaunched as Henan Airlines earlier this year.

China, according to officials, kept a good air travel safety record of about 2,100 days -- or 69 months -- without accidents before the last night crash.

More than five years ago, a CRJ-200 jet, owned by China Eastern Airlines, crashed into a park in Baotou City in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, killing all 53 people on board and two others on the ground.